Calee nodded. “My father agrees. His contract doesn’t include working during an insurrection of any kind, and that covers being smothered by an empire.”
Quint smiled. “Then consider me a shipmate,” he said.
“You have resources?”
“Can I pay my way?” Quint asked. “I’m a Level 3 wizard and some think I’m a Master. I’m sure I can be of use to a smart captain. If I can’t use my magic, I possess a youthful body to climb the rigging.”
Calee’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t do that!”
Quint shrugged. “I would. We must separate. I’ll be in contact with the ship on my own.”
“Refer to yourself as the local hubite to the purser, then. We will be able to know it’s you.”
“I’ll do that,” Quint said as he bowed to her and turned to walk in a different direction.
After another half-hour in the market, Quint returned to his flat. He ate a lonely dinner and at twilight he walked to the docks and after a few questions, he found the purser inspecting boxes delivered to a warehouse space Danko’s ship had rented.
“Are you taking on any sailors to Narukun?” Quint asked.
“Are you a sailor looking for a ship or someone looking for passage to Narukun?” the purser asked.
“I’m looking for passage, but I’m short of funds. I’m willing to work my way to Narukun. I’m acquainted with Fedor Danko and his daughter. They know me as a local hubite,” Quint said. “I am handy as a wizard, if that would help.”
“Are you ranked?”
“I am,” Quint said, “but I’m uncomfortable telling you how many strings I can cast. Fedor knows.”
“We can always use a wizard. Most of your kind would rather practice your profession on land. You have a name?”
“I’ll give it to you when I board. Just put me down as a local hubite and I’ll fill any chinks you have on your crew,” Quint said.
The purser grunted and wrote a note in notebook that was filling up. “We don’t know when we will sail. This warehouse is where we are accumulating our cargo, but we won’t load until we are closer to leaving.”
“When will that be?”
“At least a week. You can check with me every day until then. I’ll be here at midday until we sail.”
“Mind if I look around?”
The purser shrugged. “Go ahead. We almost have a full cargo. If you have nothing better to do, you can help me put these crates over there.”
“A test?”
The purser laughed. “If you want to call it that, sure. I just want some free help.”
Quint spent less than an hour helping the purser and another crew member move crates. Quint looked around the warehouse and found an unlocked door. Inside was an unused office, that wasn’t too dirty. Quint found a bedroll in a cupboard and unlocked a window that he could use to get in and out of the room.
“Who uses the office at the back?”
The purser looked up from his desk. “There is an office back there?” The purser shrugged. “I’m already set up in the front. and I can watch our goods better here than inside an office.”
Quint nodded and left the warehouse. He turned a corner and ended up at the office window. He slipped inside and looked around. There were solid shutters secured inside the window that would keep the room dark. In a pinch, Quint found a hiding hole.
He climbed out of the window and pushed an empty crate underneath the window before securing the window with a cast string and headed back to his flat.
It was dark when he stood across the street from his building. There were lights inside moving around his flat. Quint sighed. There were possessions in the flat that he wanted, so he counted heads moving through the windows. He sighed again when he caught Amaria Baltacco ordering around three black-clad figures. He wondered if it was the same three who had interrogated Marena.
Quint waited for them to finish and saw all four of them leave his flat. He couldn’t see what they had taken. No one carried a sword, so perhaps they left his weapons. Quint jogged across the street and entered an alley a few buildings down and found his way into the building without noticing any watchers. He surveyed his possessions and found everything there except for his master’s certificate.
He smiled. If Amaria was the one to find it, she might have even eaten the paper to get over her frustration. He agreed with Pozella’s view that Quint was too young to be taken seriously.
It was time to leave. He took what he absolutely needed and finished off what could be easily eaten. Quint headed down to the ground level to go out the back, when he heard a sound in an alcove and then the world went dark.
Chapter Thirty-On
e
Quint woke up in a small cabin in the woods. He had no idea where he was in relation to Bocarre, but if he was put to sleep the previous night, he couldn’t be too far from Bocarre. His hands were put in fingerless gloves and wrapped together so Quint couldn’t cast a string.
He sat up on a dusty cot and looked out a window. No one else occupied the cabin, but Quint heard voices on the other side of the door. Quint rose and walked around; thankful his feet weren’t tied together. He fumbled with the cabin’s latch, but eventually opened the door that led to a porch the width of the cabin. Two men sat in chairs, facing the woods.
“His highness has woken,” one of the men said. “Have a seat and enjoy nature for a bit.”
The friendly tone of his captors surprised him.
